AITA for leaving a fake postive pregnancy test in the bedroom to catch my husband’s mom snooping?

A Reddit user shares a controversial tactic they used to confirm their suspicions about their MIL snooping in their bedroom. By planting a fake positive pregnancy test, the user stirred up unintended drama and backlash from their husband and in-laws. Read the full story below…

‘ AITA for leaving a fake postive pregnancy test in the bedroom to catch my husband’s mom snooping?’

My MIL moved in with us a month ago. I began to notice my stuff in the bedroom being touched. Furniture rearranged, stuff moved et cetera…
I felt like I was going crazy because my husband is the only one who has access to the bedroom and he doesn’t usually touch nor come near my things.

I figured it must be his mom walking in and snooping on my personal things. I told my husband and he said his mom would never…I had a huge hunch but couldn’t instal a cam in the bedroom to catch her in act. So, I got me one of those fake postive pregnancy tests and threw it in the bedroom’s trashcan. note the trashcan was placed in the corner near the closet.

Literally the next day after I got to work, I got tons of calls and texts from my inlaws “congratulating” me for my “pregnancy”. My husband came over to my workplace and was all worked up about it asking since when I was pregnant, and why I didn’t tell him. I asked how he found out and he said his mom found the positive test in the trashcan in the bedroom.

I asked if his answer just confirmed that she’s been snooping in the bedroom all along. He had a “realization” moment but demanded we stick to the bigger issue, I said there was no bigger issue because the positive test was fake and this whole thing was done to expose my MIL’s snooping.

he was not convinced. he had me take an actual test right infront of him and he was livid asking how could I lie about such thing and break his mom’s heart since I know…very well that she longs for kids. I got a lot of s**t because of this from him, his mom and family now calling me a l**r and manipulator.. AITA?

Here’s what Redditors had to say:

babymargaret −  NTA, but ordering a lock for the door and kicking MIL out seems easier. If you WERE preg, how dare she announce it. So many red flags, one of you needs to go and it shouldn’t have to be you.

gastropodia42 −  NTA. You told no lies. Even if you were pregnant she had know right to announce it to the world. Sounds like one of you girls should move out. I wonder which one your husband would prefer.

JazzyKnowsBest13 −  NTA. You didn’t lie. You set a trap. You caught a rat.

ctortan −  NTA but it sounds like you have a husband problem as well since he was focused more on you “breaking his mom’s heart” instead of her 1) snooping in your *marital bedroom,* and 2) her blabbing her mouth to *everyone* instead of immediately going to you and your husband
Of course snooping is terrible and deeply disrespectful,

but it’s made even worse by how she went behind your back to spread the news without ANY confirmation or followup. And she’s like this about a PREGNANCY—I imagine she just has 0 respect for anyone’s privacy or boundaries at all. Yikes. I would not want to raise a family around someone like that.

Calico-Kats −  If my husband ever demanded I take a pregnancy test in front of him, I would tell him only if he puts his head in the toilet while I do it.

PointlessGeolocation −  NTA throw out that whole family. He forced you to take a pregnancy test in front of him??? P**cho vibes

CyclonicHavoc −  Lol, his mom is snooping through your things and he’s worried about how much you hurt his mommy’s feelings?
I would kick MIL out, like, today. Your husband also needs therapy to help him to work on not being so co-dependent on his mother as well.. NTA.

tatasz −  NTA. You didn’t lie and broke no hearts. If husband doesn’t understand it, send this one away, together with his snooping mom.

Pro_crastinator451 −  NTA! 1. Your MIL is such an AH for snooping around. 2. Your mama’s boy husband dismissed your concerns. You could’ve asked her if she was going into your room, but he probably would’ve gotten mad at that, too. Which led you to believe you had to take drastic measures in order to have proof, ’cause otherwise no one would back you up.

3. She had absolutely NO RIGHT to announce your pregnancy. Imagine it had been true, she didn’t care about hurting your feelings by stealing the opportunity to announce something so personal. She didn’t even ask you privately first to make sure your husband already knew (but of course privacy is not something she cares about, as we can see).

4. She’s the one violating someone’s privacy… and her feelings are hurt? She’s trying to take everyone’s attention away from the fact that she found out the wrong way, OP. DON’T let her!

ChibiSailorMercury −  It’s not a lie if your MIL sniffed around and dug up false intel she was not supposed to find….had she been a normal, civil and polite guest who respects boundaries and does not snoop around in personal business. Honestly, the husband and his family sound like a nightmare.

The question you should ask your husband is : “You didn’t want to believe me when I told you your mom was snooping around in my stuff. What was the right way to prove it to you? What was the acceptable thing to do, for all involved parties, including me?”

Because it did not only get started with your MIL violating your boundaries, it continued with your husband not believing you (more than once! he made you take a pregnancy test in front of him…why, exactly?). And then your MIL continued violating your privacy by announcing your “pregnancy” to the whole town, robbing you of the occasion to the announcement yourself.

But the issue, according to everyone, is not the snooping, is not the distrust, is not the boundaries stomping. It’s hiding something she wasn’t supposed to see had she been a good MIL, in a place she shouldn’t have accessed had she been a good MIL. Where is the lie? Where is the manipulation?. NTA.

While the Redditor succeeded in exposing the snooping, their method caused unnecessary emotional turmoil. Was this a clever strategy or an overly dramatic way to prove a point? Could they have handled the situation differently? Share your thoughts below!